Combustion of hydrocarbon oil



R. O. HUMPHREY COMBUSTION OF HYDROGARBON OIL June 224 1926.

Filed May 15, 1922 wmmm Patented June 22,` 1926.

UNITE-D STAT-Es RALEIGH b. nUMPnnnY; on CHICAGO, Lnmorenssrenon To AMERICAN AUTOMATIC HEATING- COMPANY, A 'CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

coiJIBusrIoN oF iiYnnocAnnoN orL.

Application iarray 15. m22. semina. 560,878.

My invention relates to the'coinbnstionof hydrocarbon oils, particularly `fpetrolfnun distillates, such, for example, as kerosene oil; and one ofthe principal objects ofthe invention is to provide a inethod of vaporizing the oil and burning'thefsa'ine under such conditions that there willbe no 'appreciable deposit of carbon ine the va-po-rizer or other partsof the heatingnpparatus and the vapor vwill be delivered to the burner in a Astate insuring perfect combustion.`

A further object is to so cont'roltheheat applied to the oil that .oornpletevaporifzation without formation Aof carbon is obtained regardless of whether 4the furnace is 'joperjated at full or reducedl capacity.

A heating plant/,constructedand operated in accordance lwi'thjrny "invention, will require vvery little l care and 'attention,` fuel' vconsumption* is ',rnininiiedand, byl suitable adjustment o fV the' apparatus whichv may be:` effected autrnatically, rif desired, a wide range of furnace temperatures can be pro- '.duced, The invention, is, therefore, particularly lapplicable to domestic 'heating plants; o-r to ,industrial furnaces "where the requirements for heatl are not constant but, 4asin the case 'of .a house heating plantfwill vary with the "conditions of ythe w'ather. VThe invention, however, is not' confined to pla1'its oftli`is`type. t y e I have foun'd that 'petroleum dietill'ates, for `eikarnpwle,A `the Vdistillate"k'l'iown 'kerosene, Inay be,vaporiedy`fand heatedtol'the 'extent required to 'give perfectv combustion without producing any appreciable deposit of,4 carbon inI the vaporiizer, provided' thel o il is heatedtofaA certain teinperalturey but anot too highlyfthat. is, provided `the,teinloerature of the oil isfkept between certain fairly well defined lii'nits (with 'or'dinaryf'lzero-'sene `between 500o and SOOOKFahrenheit). fTliat 'is'to eay,"the oil`if heated to thisteinpeiature ybe converted `into a-vapor'w'ithout iany decoin" osit'i'on or breakiigrupofl'the foil into itshydrogen and carbon''lements, and the vapor superheated to compensate for 'radiat'ion 4losses betv`veen -the 'vaporizer and burner and VV'for the Jdrop'in te'rnpefature fdue to nliiiture ofl air'iwith thevapor, fso that lno carbon its 4'forrn'e'd.inthe'vaporier and so that the Ifuel mixture 'deliveredto the' 'burner will be completely col'nbustible and "burn without any residue. e e

e In utilizing this principlein al furnace such asa domestic heatingfplant which is called Vupon to deliver larger or smaller anrounts 'of heat according lto the weather conditions Oras between the da'yand night hours, 'I vary thequantity of heat-applied to the'vaporizer (for example, by varying the fuel supply to the burner which heats the vaporizer) substantially in proportion to the change in rate of oil fiowthroughtthc vaporizer, so that whether the furnace burnerbe operated at ainaxiinuni capacity or latiany reduced capacity down `to the inininiurn, the teinperatureto wh'ichtthe oil in the'va'porizer israised will remain constant lor at least will remain within such range of temperatures as will insure foo-1nplete vaporizati'on without ybringing about decompoeitionand dep'osit -of carbon.

"'Iheregulation ofthe aniount of heat `applied by the burner to the vaporizer to acoinplishthisiresult may be brought about inval-ions ways. In the drawing' attached hereto I have shown the vaporieras heated byfa burner fed witlroil vapor produced in an auxiliary va'porizer simultaneously with the production 'of vapor in the main vapor 1zer,'th'e'oil supply to `the two vapori'zers being Acontrolled "so as toflee'p them both at the desired 'temperature regardless of the `amounts yof fuel passing* through the same. For aj house heatingplant` the control' Iof the fuell supply passing thro-ugh 'the "'rna'in vaporier and the fuel supply f passing `through t-hefauxiliary vaporizermaybecontr'olled,

simultaneously, by nieans 'of a therinostat located init-he space'tofbe heated.

A further object` of the invention is to pro- `vvide a suitable apparatus for carrying out the inethod above l'seti forth. l e The annexed drawing illustrates son'iewhat dia-grammatically, an apparatus for utilizing niy invention,

Fig. l being-afraglnentary verticalsec- 'Itional view of the apparatus, and

Q'an end elevation ofthe vaporizerto illustrate control' of the saine therinostati- @alla Referring to.` the f'dawing, E"10 designates a burnerfof the B'unsen typewhich isslfown as arranged the 'lire potllfoffa furnace. Vaporize'd fuel Aenters the -nnixing'I fchanlber I trolle'd 'by `'a' valve: 14. v'Air' enters the mixing 7 responding movement of valve 29.

supply pipe leading thereto. The stem 18 of valve 14 extends through the vaporizer and is provided with a collar 19 formed with a spiral groove 20 into which projects the fixed stud 21. 22 is a lever fixed to thc end of stem 18, the end of which lever is connected with a chain 23 forming part of a thermostatic mechanism indicated diagrammatically at 24. 25 designates the auxiliary vaporizer and 26 a burner for heating both the main vaporizer and the auxiliary vaporizer, the burner 26 being supplied with oil vapor from the vaporizer 25 through a gooseneck 27. The end f' of the auxiliary vaporizer which projects into gooseneck 2T is formed with a vapor port 28 controlled by a valve 29, the stem 30 of which extends through the vaporizer and has a threaded portion 31 engaging a threaded bonnet 32. 33 is a lever, also attached to the thermostat chain 23, for rotating stem 30. In order that threading of valve 29 need not be extremely fine, lever 33 may be pivoted to the end of stem 30 and provided with a projection 34 which works with some lost motion between lugs 35, 35 on a collar 36 fixed to stem 30. 37 is the oil supply pipe leading to the auxili ary vaporizer, this pipe and pipe 17 being branches from a common oil supply pipe 38 and being provided, preferably, with shut olf valves 39, 39.

The movement of the valve 14 away from its seat is much more rapid than the cor- These valve movements and the relative sizes of the ports controlled by them are calculated so that the amount of vapor delivered from the auxiliary vaporizer to the burner, and consequently the amount of heat applied to the vaporizers by the burner, is proportioned to the rate of flow of fuel through the vaporizers, with the result that the oil, regardless of its rate of flow, is maintained at an approximately constant temperature, at least at a temperature within the range of temperatures sufficiently high to produce a completely vaporized fuel at the furnace burner 10, but low enough so that there is no decomposition of the oil and deposit of carbon. In case the temperature of the space being heated falls below that at which the thermostat 24 is setto operate, the action of the thermostat will increase the flow of fuel through the vaporizer 16 by operation of valve 14. At the same time valve 29 is automatically operated to supply vapor to the burner 26 in a proportionately increased quantity so that as the rate of flow of oil through the vaporizers is increased the temperature to which the oil is exposed is higher. Similarly, a slowing down of the fuel to the furnace burner is accompanied by a reduction of fuel supply to the burner that heats the vaporizers, so that the slower movement of the fuel does not involve raising it to a higher temperature.

By complete vaporization, as the term is used in the claims, I intend the produc tion of an oil vapor in the vaporizer which will be superheated to the extent necessary to insure the delivery of a vapor which, being mixed with air, will give a perfect blue flame combustion, leaving no carbon deposit. 'Ihe term decomposition7 as applied to the oil is intended to express the chemical change which takes place in the oil when subjected to high temperature whereby deposits of carbon are formed.

It is realized that the invention might be utilized in apparatus very differently constructed from that shown in the drawing. Therefore I wish to be understood as intending to cover all modifications, both as to process and apparatus, within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Method of heating with a petroleum distillate as a fuel which consists in pro ducing a flow of the fuel to the place of combustion, heating the oil to vaporize it, thermostatically controlling the flow of fuel to maintain a determinate temperature in the space heated, and automatically controlling the amount of heat applied to the oil only in response to extreme changes in its rate of flow to maintain the oil at a temperature above that necessary for complete combustion but below that at which decom position of the oil takes place.

2. Apparatus for burning petroleum oil distillate comprising, in combination, a burner of the Bunsen type, a vaporizer, means for varying the flow of oil through the vaporizer, means for heating the vaporizer, and means cooperating with the fuel controlling means only in case of extreme changes in the rate of fuel flow for automatically regulating the means for heating the vaporizer to maintain the oil in the vaporizer at the proper temperature for complete combustion, without allowing same to become overheated and decomposed.

3. Apparatus for burning petroleum oil distillate comprising, in combination, a burner of the Bunsen type, a vaporizer, means for varying the flow of oil through the vaporizer, means for heating the vaporizer, and automatic means cooperating with the fuel controlling means and including a lost-motion connection, for regulating the means for heating the vaporizer simultaneously with eXtreme changes in the rate of flow through the vaporizer to maintain the oil in the vaporizer at the proper temperature for complete combustion, without allowing saine to become overheated and decomposed.

4. In a hydrocarbon burner, the combination with a main vaporizing generator' havf ing a control valve for the vaporized fuel delivered therefrom; of an auxiliary vaporizing generator having a control valve for the vaporized fuel delivered therefrom; means for simultaneously actuating said control valves in the same direction and one at a faster rate than the other; a burner proper; and means for supplying vaporized fuel to said burner proper.

6. In a hydrocarbon burner, the combination With a main vaporizing generator having a control valve for the vaporized Yfuel delivered therefrom; of an auxiliary vapor-l izing generator having a control valve for vaporized fuel delivered therefrom; means for simultaneously actuating said control valves and including a lost motion device for the auxiliary generator control valve; a burner proper; and means for supplying said burner proper with vaporized fuel.

7. In a hydrocarbon burner; the combination With a main generator having a control valve for vaporized fuel delivered therefrom with means for advancing or retracting said valve at a relatively fast rate of speed upon rotation of the valve; of an auxiliary vaporizing generator having a control valve for vaporizcd fuel delivered therefrom and means for advancing and retracting said valve at a relatively slow rate upon rotation thereof; means for simultaneously actuating said control valves in the same direction and including a lost motion device for the auxiliary generator valve; a burner proper; and means for supplying said burner proper With vaporized fuel.

RALEIGH O. HUMPHREY. 

